These two volumes from Nobel Prize winning scientist Irving Langmuir, include his early published papers resulting from his experiments with ionized gases (i.e. plasma). The books summarise many of the basic properties of plasmas. Langmuir coined the word plasma in about 1928.

Hannes Alfvén won the Nobel Prize for his development of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) the science that models plasma as fluids. This book lays down the ground work, but also shows that MHD may be inadequate for low-density plasmas such as space plasmas.

Provided strong arguments for heliocentrism and contributed valuable insight into the movement of the planets, including the first mention of their elliptical path and the change of their movement to the movement of free floating bodies as opposed to objects on rotating spheres (two of Kepler's laws). One of the most important works of the Scientific Revolution.[4]

— (1997). The harmony of the world. Translated into English with an introduction and notes by E. J. Aiton, A. M. Duncan and J. V. Field. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. ISBN978-0-87169-209-2.

A landmark article of stellar physics, analysing several key processes that might be responsible for the synthesis of chemical elements in nature and their relative abundances; it is credited with originating what is now the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis.

Reported results from the COBE satellite, which was developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to measure the diffuse infrared and microwave radiation from the early universe to the limits set by our astrophysical environment. Measurements by a Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) confirmed that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum is that of a nearly perfect black body with a temperature of 2.725 ± 0.002 K. This observation matches the predictions of the hot Big Bang theory extraordinarily well, and indicates that nearly all of the radiant energy of the Universe was released within the first year after the Big Bang. The first paper presents initial results; the second, final results.

Presents results from the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) on the COBE satellite. This maps the cosmic radiation and searches for variations in brightness. The CMB was found to have intrinsic "anisotropy" for the first time, at a level of a part in 100,000. These tiny variations in the intensity of the CMB over the sky show how matter and energy was distributed when the Universe was still very young. Later, through a process still poorly understood, the early structures seen by DMR developed into galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the large scale structure that we see in the Universe today. The first paper presents initial results; the second, final results.

Presents results from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on the COBE satellite. This searches for the cosmic infrared background radiation produced by the first galaxies. Infrared absolute sky brightness maps in the wavelength range 1.25 to 240 micrometres were obtained to carry out a search for the cosmic infrared background (CIB). The CIB was originally detected in the two longest DIRBE wavelength bands, 140 and 240 micrometres, and in the short-wavelength end of the FIRAS spectrum. Subsequent analyses have yielded detections of the CIB in the near-infrared DIRBE sky maps. The CIB represents a "core sample" of the Universe; it contains the cumulative emissions of stars and galaxies dating back to the epoch when these objects first began to form.

James Clerk Maxwell reviewed this work in Nature and concluded that "there can be no doubt that the name of Van der Waals will soon be among the foremost in molecular science." Johannes Diderik van der Waals received the Nobel Prize in 1910 for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.

Described the famous effect of splitting of spectral lines in electric fields (c.f. Zeeman effect) as predicted by Voigt.[6] Observed the same year (1913) as Lo Surdo;[7] the work won a Nobel Physics prize for Stark.

Classic (first and original[13]) English translation: — (1914). Mathematical discourses and demonstrations, relating to Two New Sciences. Translation by Henry Crew and Alfonso de Salvio.

Recent English translation: — (1974). Two New sciences, including Centers of gravity & Force of percussion. Translated and compiled by Stillman Drake. Madison: Wisconsin University Press. ISBN978-0-299-06404-4.

Stokes, George Gabriel (1849). "On the theory of the internal friction of fluids in motion, and of the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids". Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 8: 287. (Presented in 1845)

These three papers develop the BCS theory of usual (not high TC) superconductivity, relating the interaction of electrons and the phonons of a lattice. The authors were awarded the Nobel prize for this work.[citation needed]

Contains the foundation of the kinetic theory of rubber elasticity, including the first theoretical description of statistical mechanics of polymers with application to viscosity and rubber elasticity, and an expression for the entropy gain during the coiling of linear flexible molecules.

Presented earlier by Guth at the American Chemical Society meeting of 1939, this article contains the first outline of the network theory of rubber elasticity. The resulting Guth-James equation of state is analogous to van der Waal's equation.

Presents a more detailed version of the network theory of rubber elasticity. The paper used average forces to some extent instead of thermodynamical functions. In statistical thermodynamics, these two procedures are equivalent. After some controversy within the literature, the James-Guth network theory is now generally accepted for larger extensions. See, e.g., Paul Flory's comments in Proc. Royal Soc. A. 351, 351 (1976).

Contains a proof of Noether's Theorem (expressed as two theorems), showing that any symmetry of the Lagrangian corresponds to a conserved quantity. This result had a profound influence on 20th century theoretical physics.

Considered a founding text in the field of Fourier analysis (and by extension harmonic analysis), and a breakthrough for the solution of the classic (partial) differential equations of mathematical physics.

A finite system of deterministic nonlinear ordinary differential equations is introduced to represent forced dissipative hydrodynamic flow, simulating simple phenomena in the real atmosphere. All of the solutions are found to be unstable, and most of them nonperiodic, thus forcing to reevaluate the feasibility of long-term weather prediction. In this paper the Lorenz attractor is presented for the first time, and gave the first hint of what is now known as butterfly effect.

The first major publication of the Royal Society. It generated a wide public interest in, and often is considered the creator of, the science of microscopy. Also notable for coining the term "biological cell".

Huygens attained a remarkably clear understanding of the principles of wave-propagation; and his exposition of the subject marks an epoch in the treatment of Optical problems. Not appreciated until much later due to the mistaken zeal with which formerly everything that conflicted with the cherished ideas of Newton was denounced by his followers.

A key publication in the history of physics, arguably Newton's second most influential physics publication after Principia. Within he describes his famous experiments regarding colour and light, and ends with a set of queries about the nature of light and matter.

Chadwick's experiments confirmed the identity of the mysterious particle detected independently by Joliot-Curie & Joliot,[35] and Bothe & Becker[36][37] and predicted by Majorana and others[38] to be a neutral nucleon in 1932, for which Chadwick was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935.[39]

A series of three articles by Hans Bethe summarizing the knowledge in the subject of Nuclear Physics at the time of publication. The set of three articles is colloquially referred to as "Bethe's bible".

This contains an account of an experiment first suggested by Wang,[43] confirming the existence of a particle (the neutrino, more precisely the electron neutrino) first predicted by Pauli in 1940;[44][45] a result that was rewarded almost forty years later with the 1995 Nobel Prize for Reines.[46]

J. C. Street and E. C. Stevenson. "New Evidence for the Existence of a Particle Intermediate Between the Proton and Electron", Phys. Rev. 52, 1003 (1937).

Experimental confirmation of a particle first discovered by Anderson and Neddermeyer at Caltech in 1936;[47] originally thought to be Yukawa's meson,[48] but later shown to be a "heavy electron", now called muon.

This important experiment on a beam of particles through a magnetic field described the experimental observation that their deflection takes only certain quantized values was important in leading to the concept of a new quantum number, spin.

These papers introduce the wave-mechanical description of the atom (Ger Wellenmechanik; not to be confused with classical wave mechanics), inspired by the wave–particle duality hypotheses of Einstein (1905) and de Broglie (1924), among others. This was only the second fully adequate formulation of (non-relativistic) quantum theory. Introduced the now famous equation named after the author.[51]

Performed an experiment (with Lester Germer) which observed Bragg X-ray diffraction patterns from slow electrons; later independently replicated by Thomson, for which Davisson and Thomson shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937. This confirmed de Broglie's hypothesis that matter has wave-like behaviour; in combination with the Compton effect discovered by Arthur Compton (who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927), established the wave–particle duality hypothesis as a fundamental concept in quantum theory.

Quantum mechanics as explained by one of the founders of the field, Paul Dirac. First edition published on 29 May 1930. The second to last chapter is particularly interesting because of its prediction of the positron.

Rigorous axiomatic formulation of quantum mechanics as explained by one of the greatest pure and applied mathematicians in modern history. In this book all the modern mathematical machinery to deal with quantum theories, such as the general notion of Hilbert space, that of self-adjoint operator and a complete general version of the spectral theory for self-adjoint unbounded operators, was introduced for the first time.

The publications formulate what became known as the Klein–Gordon equation as the first relativistically invariant Schrödinger equation (however the equation was considered contemporaneously by Schrödinger - in his personal notes - and Fock, among others).[54]

Used concepts developed in the then-current textbooks (e.g., vector analysis and non-Euclidean geometry) to provide entry into mathematical physics with a vector-based introduction to quaternions and a primer on matrix notation for linear transformations of 4-vectors. The ten chapters are composed of 4 on kinematics, 3 on quaternion methods, and 3 on electromagnetism. Silberstein used biquaternions to develop Minkowski space and Lorentz transformations. The second edition published in 1924 extended relativity into gravitation theory with tensor methods, but was superseded by Eddington's text.

A modern introduction to special relativity, that explains well how the choice to divide spacetime into a time part and a space part is no different than two choices about how to assign coordinates to the surface of the earth.

A book on gravitation, often considered the "Bible" on gravitation by researchers. Published by W.H. Freeman and Company in 1973. It covers all aspects of the General Theory of Relativity and also considers some extensions and experimental confirmation. It is divided into two "tracks", the second of which covers more advanced topics. Its massive size (over 1200 pages) has inspired nicknames such as "the phone book".[57]

A founding text in the field of Fourier analysis, and a breakthrough for the solution of the classic (partial) differential equations of mathematical physics.[32] Contains an annunciation of Fourier's law.

—; E. Clapeyron; R. Clausius (2005). Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire – and other Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Edited with an introduction by E. Mendoza. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN978-0-486-44641-7.

Between 1876 and 1878 Gibbs wrote a series of papers collectively entitled "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances", considered one of the greatest achievements in physical science in the 19th century and the foundation of the science of physical chemistry. In these papers Gibbs applied thermodynamics to the interpretation of physicochemical phenomena and showed the explanation and interrelationship of what had been known only as isolated, inexplicable facts. Gibbs' papers on heterogeneous equilibria included: some chemical potential concepts; some free energy concepts; a Gibbsian ensemble ideal (basis of the statistical mechanics field); and a phase rule.

^* Cavendish, Henry (1798). "Experiments to Determine the Density of the Earth". In MacKenzie, A. S. Scientific Memoirs Vol.9: The Laws of Gravitation. American Book Co. (published 1900). pp. 59–105. Online copy of Cavendish's 1798 paper, and other early measurements of gravitational constant.